Chapter 13
EPOV
I swear to God, I am going to kill James-fucking-Smith. After I had punched him, he looked up at me bewildered, while his nose was gushing blood. Was he really that fucking stupid that he thought no one had seen? James was the biggest fuck-head I had ever met. If anyone in the in-crowd of Forks had wanted some pot, maybe a little coke, or to score some adderall, they went to James. He was the biggest and best-kept-secret drug dealer to the high school population. Apparently, now James had his hands on roofies or other date-rape drugs too—well, this has got to stop. James was going to die one way or another, that's all I knew. Bella looked disorientated; the drugs started taking effect—rendering her memory inept. My heart twisted painfully as I thought about what could have happened to her. It was just another thing to fuck-up the girl I had grown to care for; it was unacceptable. I didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone, or that piece-of-shit unattended, so I took out my cell and rang Jasper. Please pick up…:: ring:: Please for fuck's sake, pick up! I thought. ::Ring:: Jasper picked up on the third ring. "What?" He shouted, in the midst of the music-filled dance floor.
"We have an emergency situation, bring Alice to the bonfire, and call Rose and Emmett to meet us here. And fucking hurry Jasper!" I yelled. It was hard to remain calm when this fuck-head was to be dealt with. After pacing back and forth, cursing obscenities, and practically ripping out my hair, I remembered myself and tended to my Bella. I held her shoulders, gently despite my anger, and looked into her eyes. Knowing she wouldn't remember this, I still tried to comfort her anyways.
"Bella, hon… are you ok? How are you feeling?" I softly questioned. She looked puzzled.
"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" She answered; a slur was present that wasn't there when I last left her.
"Do you feel strange at all?" I was overly-concerned, but—I felt—rightly so.
"I feel a little weird. I… I'm so tired, Edward," she slightly whined. God, even her drugged-up whine was sexy to my ears. What was wrong with me?
"I know, Bella, It'll be ok. I promise. I'll make it up to you—I'll fix all of this." My words rang true: even if it was the last thing I ever did, I would correct this mother-fucking-wrong that James had bestowed upon her. That fucking asshole, dipshit. I whirled around to look at him, and he was nursing his still bleeding nose. "Hey—you, fuck-wad, what the hell is your problem?" I called to that piece of shit.
"Dude, what are you talking about…" he played dumb. I hated when people played dumb in such a serious situation. I lifted my right fist, threateningly so.
"Roofies. In my girl's cup! You are the dumbest son-of-a-bitch I have ever heard of!" I yelled at him.
"Shit, sorry dude! I didn't know she was with you!" he tried to qualify. Lame ass excuses couldn't sway my ever-bubbling anger.
"That doesn't matter you sick fuck! What kind of low-life scum has to roofie a girl to sleep with them? And for the record: she would have never slept with a fuck-up like you!" Fortunately, right as I was about to punch that mother-fucker again, Jasper showed up, trailing Alice.
"Whoa, Edward! What the hell is going on?" Jasper called.
"This," I said with all the venom I could muster, "mother-fucking-cunt, piece-of-shit, ass-wipe, fuck-up roofied Bella. I punched the sad-sap before she felt the full effects about a minute after she drank from the cup he handed her." Jasper looked horrified. His Southern-gentlemanliness was sure to almost over-react as well.
"Mother-Fucker!" Jasper yelled. I had never seen that kind of anger in his eyes before: it almost looked like pure murder. Alice only whimpered and ran to Bella.
"I have an idea, but… I don't know how to tell Emmett…" I was nervous. Emmett could be every bit as beastly as he looked. I just didn't want him going ape-shit and involving his Police Chief father—then we'd all be fucked for a very long time. If James had even touched Bella, I wouldn't have hesitated in calling the cops, but since he didn't I thought we could handle it ourselves. Jasper crouched down to where Bella had been sitting and Alice was stroking her hair, asking her how she was doing. Bella was becoming less and less conscious as the minutes ticked by.
"I'm not sure Edward. I agree though, I don't want Emmett to freak out when we tell him." Jasper thought aloud, and I nodded. Bella, beautiful even while semi-comatose, had slunk back further into the chair she occupied. This wasn't right. It was her god-damned-birthday party, a party she didn't even want to have. My anger intensified. "Edward, just… let me punch the sad-fuck, just once before Emmett gets here." Jasper pleaded.
"You shouldn't—although I desperately want to beat him to within inches of life—it's bad enough that I punched him. It could really fuck with my plan. Trust me on this," I said forcefully. Jasper nodded, seemingly pacified with my explanation. Emmett and Rosalie joined us and surveyed the odd scene: Jasper had James pinned to the ground, I was furiously pacing back-and-forth while raking my hand through my hair practically pulling it out, and Bella was passed out on an Adirondack chair in Alice's lap, quietly snoring. She looked like an angel—a tough-ass angel—while she slept.
"What the…" Rosalie called as they both walked up.
"Emmett," I said, while trying my best instill calm in him while looking into his eyes. "Now, I don't want you to freak out… remain calm. Something happened…" The veins in Emmett's neck started to thicken and his body tensed up. "James, that piece-of-shit, roofied Bella's drink. He didn't do anything… yet. I had caught him before shit went down." Emmett, keeping a cool head, stepped out of Rose's arms, and over to where Jasper had James contained. He withdrew his right hand—balled tightly into one of his deadly fists—and knocked James square in the jaw. I heard a fucking crack, and had to say: I was impressed by his boss punch. Emmett looked up from his handy-work, satisfied, and back at me.
"Sorry, Edward, go on. I just couldn't let that fucker sit there, staring at me as I had to hear about what his inevitable sick-ass-plans were for my baby-fucking-sister," Emmett said, coolly.
I nodded, but admittedly shocked at his composure; I was, after all, about to flip-a-fucking-shit. "Ok, so here's what I'm thinking," I started. Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper gathered around me to hear it. "We return James to his pitiful drug den, dope him up with some of his own shit, and place an anonymous tip to the good officers at the Police Department of Forks. Basically: we get James busted for all of his drugs while technically having nothing to do with it, thankfully none of us has ever bought from him… right?" I questioned. Everyone nodded: we knew better than to deal with good-for-nothing dealers.
"Emmett," I continued, "I'll let you and Jasper do the honors in setting up his place, Rose, you call the station and leave an anonymous tip. Alice, you work on clearing out the party inconspicuously. I'll carry Bella upstairs to my room and keep an eye on her until everything's done—Alice and Jasper will have Alice's room, Emmett: you and Rose can have the guest room; I'll sleep on the couch. All clear?"
Everyone nodded and immediately started on their specific courses of action. Jasper and Emmett each took an arm of James' and dragged him out of the yard, staying in the shaded areas and out of sight—heading to his house to get him loaded so he didn't remember our confrontation. Rosalie went inside to make the call to the police once she got the go-ahead from Jasper or Emmett. Alice went to the DJ to announce the last song while all the other party-goers enjoyed their night, oblivious to drama that had just went down. I was surprised, though, that no one had heard my yelling, or seen the few punches that were thrown, albeit one-way. I regarded Bella, sleeping peacefully in her chair where Alice had left her. It made me sad: she had no idea what could have happened to her tonight and it sickened me. I also felt as though I had let her down: if I hadn't left for those few minutes for drinks, we both would be awake and happy right now. I had only known her a week and already I wanted to pledge the rest of my life to keep her safe. If James wasn't getting royally fucked by the cops, I probably would have killed him with my bare hands.
I slid one arm under Bella's knees and the other behind her neck, lifted her from the chair, and carried her princess-style towards the house. It didn't matter if people saw us; they'd probably just think she passed out from too much to drink. I didn't fucking care; all I wanted was the angel sleeping in my arms to be safely tucked-into bed. Bella felt as light as air in my arms; did the girl ever eat anything other than her damn bananas? I carried her into the house and up the two flights of stairs to my room on the third floor. I laid her gently on my bed, under the covers. When she awoke I wanted to make sure that she was comfortable. I didn't know what to do, I was at a loss. My anger and sadness for her were warring inside me: I felt as helpless as I had when I was four-years-old when I had to watch my mom suffer from the cancer that was killing her.
The last day of my mother's life was the worst of mine. My mother—Elizabeth—had withered to nearly skin-and-bones within only three month's time from her diagnosis. The doctors were amazed at how aggressive her cancer had been. She, always the fighter, attempted every kind of treatment they offered: surgery, chemo, radiation, drug-trials, you name it. Because my father was a renowned surgeon, he was able to pull some strings and keep her in the best treatment and care possible. Because of his trust fund, money was no object. I, little Edward, watched my mother suffer in silence. I was the only one who saw what it was really doing to her: killing her all the more quickly. First, it killed her spirit, and then it killed her body, as it fucking killed me along with her.
I had put on a brave front while around my mother, acting the part I knew they all wanted me to play. But at night when my father Carlisle took me home, I would cry and beg for him to let mommy come home too. I wanted them to unhook her from all of those fucking machines that drained her life away as they attempted to save it. I looked into her empty green eyes—the same eyes I had inherited from her—and her sallow face covered in her bronze curls—the hair I had inherited. Even at age four, I could tell she wasn't happy; the liveliness that had always been in her eyes was gone. The day I saw my mom take her last breath, was the last day—until Bella—I felt that I had anything to strive for.
That was thirteen-fucking-years ago. Every plan for the future after my mom's death was pointless: I didn't have any goals anymore. I didn't want to be the doctor my mother had wanted me to be, following in my father's footsteps. I knew that college wasn't necessary; I was getting a huge trust fund after age 18 because of my mom's death and my dad's inheritance. I had hated my father, although he was a good man, for putting my mom through that hell. It was a hatred I didn't get over until Esme and Alice had come into our lives. Alice was the sister I never knew that I had always wanted: nothing ever got her down. Alice and Esme were better therapy than any shrink had ever been to me. Now, Bella was my saving grace.
I watched Bella sleep: the slow rise and fall of her breathing was comforting to me. I was getting fucking tired too, but I didn't want to leave her. I didn't want to creepily spoon her in my sleep either. I was at an impasse. I didn't know at what stage everyone else was at in the plan, but I didn't care. What I really cared about right now was making sure Bella was left so sleep in tranquility. As I sat next to the bed, musing over the evening's events, Bella startled me.
"Edward…" she breathily said. She was still sleeping, so I was confused. "Edward," she called softly again, "don't leave me alone…" she breathily called. I finally realized that Bella talked in her sleep. How fucking cute! I thought. Well, if I crawled into bed with her now, she was the one who asked me to, technically. Oh, the fuck if I cared. I had a big bed; we didn't necessarily have to touch or anything… I walked around my bed and took off my shoes, after turning off the light. I could take a quick nap until everyone returned. I was fucking bushed. I leaned over and kissed her forehead goodnight. I silently wished her sweet dreams before completely laying down. I didn't expect, though, that the minute my head touched the pillow I would pass out.
